The LGBT Sport Podcast

To say that Ellia Green is an incredible athlete would be a dramatic understatement.

As a kid, it was athletics – and particularly sprinting - that Ellia excelled at, competing at World Junior Championships, all with the encouragement of an amazing mum who was all in on supporting their journey.

Ellia ended up switching to rugby sevens – and in 2016, they were part of the Australian team that took gold at the Olympics in Rio in the first time that the sport had ever taken place at a Games.

It was the fulfilment of a dream that had fired Ellia ever since they were a child, and in 2022, Ellia opened up about their journey away from sport with their gender identity when they spoke publicly for the first time about their journey as a trans man.

We’re delighted to have Ellia on the podcast today to talk about all of that – as we chat about all of that and so much more in a conversation that touches on being true to who you are, becoming a father, achieving your Olympic dreams and so, so much more.

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2023 is almost at an end – and in many ways, this has been the biggest year that the BBC’s LGBT Sport Podcast has ever had.

More guests telling more stories in more places and more ways than ever before – so to round out the year, we thought we’d remind ourselves of some of the most memorable moments that we’ve had on the podcast between January and December.

World Cup winners, Olympic gold medallists, rugby and football internationals, wrestling superstars, folks who came out for the first time in 2023, and the ones who paved the way for them to do so.

They’re all in this special episode to round out the year – and we really think you’re going to like it.

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John-Edward Heath is someone who lives and breaths sport.

A powerlifter, a snowboarder, a Crossfit competitor and an adaptive athlete with dreams of medalling on the grandest stages of them all – John-Edward is a man with big ambitions and the drive to match.

But he’s also a man who has had to overcome extraordinary obstacles.

As a child, he experienced homelessness; as a gay Marine, he was outed; he had to deal with the trauma of a partner and a best friend taking their own lives; and, after being hit by a drunk-driver and experiencing a significant number of medical difficulties and complications, he made the decision to have his lower leg removed.

With all of that trauma, you might think that John-Edward was consumed by negativity – but actually, the reverse is true, and the American adaptive athlete is focused on competing at the Paralympics and the grandest stages that sport has to offer, and of raising others up along the way.

We talk about all of that in this episode – including how he discovered sport was for him, understanding his own sexuality, the idea of being ‘inspirational’ and loads more besides, in a truly memorable episode.

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It was one year ago, almost exactly to the year, that Adam Bolt made his debut on this podcast.

And since then, it’s fair to say that the British grappler has gone from strength-to-strength in a way that not even he thought would be possible.

The Doncaster native has had millions of views across social media from people eager to hear more about his inspiring story outside of the ring – while inside the squared circle, he’s claimed the UK’s first-ever Pride title after main-eventing the WAW Pride Show in Norwich with former podcast guest Mitchell Starr.

That bout was nominated for the Match of the Year at the QWI Awards, where Adam was up for numerous accolades – and he cracked the QWI200 as well, ranking for the first time amongst the elite LGBTQ+ wrestlers in the world.

So, as we head towards the end of 2023, we thought it was high-time to get Adam back onto the podcast to talk about their year – and what they want 2024 to bring their way as well.

From dream matches to dealing with pressure to representation for people who don’t always feel represented, this is a cracking conversation with one of our favourites that we really hope you’d like.

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When Jamie Ayshford dropped us a message, asking to come on to talk about the joys of spin, we were always going to say ‘yes’ to having him on.

Partly, it’s because we’re always passionate about covering a sport or type of activity that we haven’t done before – and partly, because Jamie is so blinking passionate about it!

He credits it with helping him with his mental health and empowering to accept who he is as an LGBTQ+ individual – and that’s the story that you’re going to hear over the course of what really is a fabulous conversation.

We chat about how sport at school wasn’t really his thing, partly because he wasn’t allowed to do the sport he wanted to do; coming to terms with his sexuality and how indoor cycling helped him do that; the empowerment of working out alongside other members of the LGBTQ+ community; why he is so committed to helping others – and so much more besides.

It’s a great, uplifting conversation that reminds us how important sport at the grassroots level is to your mental and physical wellbeing – and we couldn’t ask for a better advocate for it than Jamie.

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It’s hard to put into perspective the things that Hedvig Lindahl has been able to accomplish in the beautiful game.

With nearly two-hundred caps for Sweden, she is – by some distance – the most-capped Swedish goalkeeper of all-time.

Her international career has seen her reach the World Cup Final in 2003, along with two Olympic silver medals, two World Cup bronzes and three bronzes from the European Championships – while her domestic career includes two WSL titles with Chelsea, along with the Super Copa in Spain and a double won in Germany as well.

She counts Wolfsburg and Atletico Madrid amongst her former teams – and we are absolutely over the moon to have on a player who dreamed of becoming the best goalkeeper in the world, and absolutely made it happen.

It’s an amazing conversation that touches on everything from playing as a kid between two apple tress in her garden to her burning desire to be the best; along with the fight for equality, in sport and in life, her journey with her own sexuality – and whether or not she is retired!

Honestly, this is a belter – and we’re delighted Hedvig has joined us for it!

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It’s been more than a year since Jake Daniels made history.

Still just a teenager, the Blackpool player came out publicly as gay – and become the first active British male footballer to come out while still playing since Justin Fashanu.

Life has been a whirlwind for Jake since then – and we’re delighted that he’s found the time to join us on the podcast for an episode that we know so many of you have been desperate to hear.

And this isn’t just an episode about Jake’s decision to come out – but about the impact it has had on his mental health, and why Jake has teamed up with the Movember charity to help ensure others are beginning to have conversations about how they are feeling.

We talk about Jake’s journey in football; his decision to come out; the reaction to it; his take on things like the Qatar World Cup and the upcoming World Cup in Saudi Arabia; what needs to be done to make the game more inclusive – and loads, loads more.

This is an episode with someone who has rightly been lauded as a game-changer in British sport – and we can’t wait for you to hear it.

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There’s nothing better than getting to take this show on the road!

And that’s what we’re celebrating on the podcast today with a bumper compilation episode, looking at some of the best people and places that we’ve been able to take the show to since 2018.

From the beaches of Cornwall to Wembley Way, to one of the UK’s most iconic cricket clubs to a training centre for the fastest-rising British wrestling talent, this special show highlights some of the amazing ‘out and about’ stories that we’ve been able to tell on the show.

Cricket, wrestling, swimming, football, surging – even bits that we’d forgotten we’d done! – they’re all here in this very special episode.

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We last had Richard on the podcast for our 50th episode – and at the time, we described him as a modern-day James Bond – a racing driver with a doctorate for Cambridge who also fenced at the international level for England and Great Britain.

Since then, he’s gone from strength-to-strength, competing for Revolution Race Cars in the European Sports Prototype Cup – where just days ago, he clinched the Championship with a double-win at Le Mans.

As the co-founder of Racing Pride, he’s spent years working to make motorsport more inclusive – and as the chair of the Motorsport UK LGBTQ+ Expert Committee, he’s also had a pretty big week himself, as you’ll hear in this episode.

So, there really was no better time to invite Richard back onto the podcast for a chat up about his career, his achievements, Racing Pride, racing alongside Sir Chris Hoy and loads, loads more.

It’s a cracker of a conversation, and we think you’re going to love it.

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If you’ve been watching British wrestling for a while, you’ll probably have seen Jason Joshua in action.

Sovereign Pro Wrestling, WAW, Full Force Wrestling, the self-proclaimed ‘Big Daddy Unicorn’ has been plying his trade across the UK scene – and now, he’s joining us on the podcast to talk about his journey, in and away from the ring.

We get into who inspired him to give wrestling a try; finding a character that suited him; his most memorable matches and moments; his own story when it comes to finding out who he is as a person and loads, loads more.

But it’s also a powerful and moving conversation about mental health, overcoming anxiety – and how the love of a good partner can push you to do things you never dreamed that you’d be able to accomplish.

We always love talking professional wrestling on this podcast – and we hope you’ll enjoy hearing this conversation as much as we enjoyed having it.

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